Friday, July 20, 2012

Phone Photo Friday: Warsaw Edition

Jonathan and I love to travel, and usually enjoy celebrating anniversaries and birthdays by taking a little getaway. Since Jon's birthday was this past Wednesday, we decided to couple his Friday off with a long weekend away. Because we just got back from Warsaw on Monday night, we decided to go somewhere within driving distance, and were excited to discover that the beautiful Lake District of Northern England is only about 5 1/2 hours from Aberdeen. We're a bit bummed though because the forecast for Aberdeen this weekend is actually pretty good, whereas Keswick, England is scheduled for rain and cold temperatures throughout the duration of our visit.

Good thing Jonathan got some Hunter boots for his birthday. This weekend will be a great opportunity to break them in.

In order to wrap up the Warsaw series before delving into England, I thought I'd go ahead and share the rest of the phone snapshots I took on our trip to Poland.

The first picture I took in Warsaw was of this statue of Ronald Reagan. I was a bit surprised to stumble upon a tribute to an American president, especially one so recently adorned with fresh flowers. Reagan is hailed as a hero in these parts due to his commitment to free the world from communism. We also stopped for a drink in Herbert Hoover square. Nice to know that some countries in Europe actually like Americans.

I'm not sure why, since it's in the middle of the European continent, but Warsaw has a reputation for really good sushi. We had it twice while we were there and have to admit that it trumped Aberdeen's coastal sushi by far. One quirk was that they included salad in their rolls. I had never seen that before.

Though much of the tourist district of Warsaw has been rebuilt in the pre-war fashion, there are still remnants of communist architecture throughout the city.

And then there are examples of beautiful architecture such as the above. It's definitely a city of contrasts and juxtaposition.

This was definitely the strangest cultural event we witnessed in Warsaw. We were having drinks with friends in Herbert Hoover square when we notice several people dancing (badly) to silence. When we took a closer look, we noticed that they were all wearing headphones. Apparently, to avoid "noise pollution" outdoor dance parties have to be conducted through headsets.

And of course, this picture wasn't taken in Warsaw, but this is just an example of how tired my dogs were when I picked them up from the kennel after our trip. I love that we've found a place to board them where they get to romp and play all day. They even slept the whole next day so that I was able to get all of my errands and chores done without having to worry about keeping them entertained.

Well, that's all folks. I'll be back Monday with a whole lot more travel stories from our trip "south of the border". PS- How cool is it that 'south of the border' now means England instead of Mexico?